Women Human Rights Defenders
WHRDs are self-identified women and lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex (LBTQI) people and others who defend rights and are subject to gender-specific risks and threats due to their human rights work and/or as a direct consequence of their gender identity or sexual orientation.
WHRDs are subject to systematic violence and discrimination due to their identities and unyielding struggles for rights, equality and justice.
The WHRD Program collaborates with international and regional partners as well as the AWID membership to raise awareness about these risks and threats, advocate for feminist and holistic measures of protection and safety, and actively promote a culture of self-care and collective well being in our movements.
Risks and threats targeting WHRDs
WHRDs are exposed to the same types of risks that all other defenders who defend human rights, communities, and the environment face. However, they are also exposed to gender-based violence and gender-specific risks because they challenge existing gender norms within their communities and societies.
By defending rights, WHRDs are at risk of:
- Physical assault and death
- Intimidation and harassment, including in online spaces
- Judicial harassment and criminalization
- Burnout
A collaborative, holistic approach to safety
We work collaboratively with international and regional networks and our membership
- to raise awareness about human rights abuses and violations against WHRDs and the systemic violence and discrimination they experience
- to strengthen protection mechanisms and ensure more effective and timely responses to WHRDs at risk
We work to promote a holistic approach to protection which includes:
- emphasizing the importance of self-care and collective well being, and recognizing that what care and wellbeing mean may differ across cultures
- documenting the violations targeting WHRDs using a feminist intersectional perspective;
- promoting the social recognition and celebration of the work and resilience of WHRDs ; and
- building civic spaces that are conducive to dismantling structural inequalities without restrictions or obstacles
Our Actions
We aim to contribute to a safer world for WHRDs, their families and communities. We believe that action for rights and justice should not put WHRDs at risk; it should be appreciated and celebrated.
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Promoting collaboration and coordination among human rights and women’s rights organizations at the international level to strengthen responses concerning safety and wellbeing of WHRDs.
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Supporting regional networks of WHRDs and their organizations, such as the Mesoamerican Initiative for WHRDs and the WHRD Middle East and North Africa Coalition, in promoting and strengthening collective action for protection - emphasizing the establishment of solidarity and protection networks, the promotion of self-care, and advocacy and mobilization for the safety of WHRDs;
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Increasing the visibility and recognition of WHRDs and their struggles, as well as the risks that they encounter by documenting the attacks that they face, and researching, producing, and disseminating information on their struggles, strategies, and challenges:
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Mobilizing urgent responses of international solidarity for WHRDs at risk through our international and regional networks, and our active membership.
Related Content
No me siento cómodx al compartir el nombre de mi agrupación o nuestra información de contacto con AWID, ¿aun así debería responder la encuesta?
Absolutamente; esas preguntas son opcionales y valoramos tu derecho a la anonimidad. Te pedimos que respondas la encuesta independientemente de tu decisión de compartir el nombre de tu agrupación, organización o movimiento y la información de contacto con AWID.
Snippet FEA Lohana Berkins (FR)
L'une des dirigeantes fondatrices de la coopérative était Lohana Berkins, une militante, défenseuse et promotrice de l'identité trans. Lohana a joué un rôle crucial dans la lutte pour les droits des personnes trans et travestis.
Grâce à sa lutte, entre autres choses, l'approbation de la loi sur l'identité de genre a été obtenue. C'est l'une des lois les plus progressistes au monde, garantissant les droits fondamentaux des personnes trans et des travestis. Désormais, les personnes peuvent changer de nom et de sexe avec un affidavit et ont accès à des soins de santé complets sans intervention/approbation judiciaire ou médicale (Outright International, 2012).
Razan Al-Najar
Razan était une infirmière palestinienne bénévole âgée de 21 ans.
Elle a été tuée par balle à l'est de la ville de Khan Younis, au sud de Gaza, alors qu'elle courait vers une clôture de la frontière fortifiée dans le but de porter secours à une victime.
Dans son tout dernier post sur Facebook, Razan avait déclaré : « J’y retourne et ne reculerai pas », ajoutant: « Frappez-moi de vos balles. Je n'ai pas peur ».
2. Frame your research
A framework for your research will guide throughout your research process, and the framing document you develop can also serve as a concept note to advisors and partners, and a funding proposal to potential donors.
Before conducting any research:
- Set the goals of your research
- List the key questions you want your research to answer
- Write out the type of data you will need to obtain and review to answer your key questions
- Define the final products you will produce with your research
Your research framing may evolve over time as you refine your questions and gather new information. However, building an initial research framing will allow you to work from a solid foundation.
Goals
To create a strong foundation for your WITM research, it is important to clarify what you hope to accomplish.
For example, one goal of AWID’s WITM global research was to provide rigorous data to prove what we already knew anecdotally: that women’s rights organizations are discrepantly underfunded. With this data, we felt we would be better positioned to influence funders in their decision-making.
Your goals could be to:
- Generate hard data on funding realities and trends to prove or disprove existing myths.
- Gain deeper insight into differences between the perspectives of donors and women’s rights organizations.
- Influence donors in grant-making.
- Add crucial input to key funding debates.
- Explore collaboration between donors and women’s rights organizations on issues that emerge from the research.
Key questions
Frame your research process with key questions that only your research can answer and limit those questions to a specific time frame (e.g. past five years, past year, etc.).
Consider the following points:
- What exactly do you want to learn more about and what is the hypothesis you would like to test? Writing this out will assist you in your thought process.
- Is there existing research on this? If research already exists, it may not make sense to conduct new WITM research unless you feel like the existing research is not extensive or specific enough.
- What time frame do you want to cover in your analysis? For example, will your research analyze only the past year, or several previous years, such as the past five years?
- Are you planning to repeat your survey to collect data in the future?
Choosing a specific timeframe for your research can result in more precise findings than working with an open-ended timeframe. Also, deciding whether you will repeat this research at regular intervals will allow you to set up data collection benchmarks for easy replication and comparison over time.
These were the key questions that guided AWID’s WITM research process:
- What is the current state of women’s organizations’ financial sustainability across the world?
- What external and internal trends are impacting donors’ funding decisions to support women’s organizations and movements?
Type of data
Now that you determined your key questions, you can determine what kind of data will help you answer your key questions. This will allow you to plan the rest of your schedule for your WITM research.
For example, will you conduct a survey that covers an extensive portion of your priority population? Will you analyze the applications that funders are receiving from a certain region? Will you also conduct interviews (recommended)? By determining the types of data you need, you can reach out to external parties who will provide this data early on, and plot out your full schedule accordingly. Some suggested sources of data could be:
- Surveys you create for women’s rights organizations and donors
- Application and grantmaking data from donors funding cycles
- Interviews of prominent activists, organizations, and donors
- Donor data from membership organizations and networks, such as the Foundation Center, regional or national donor affinity groups.
Diverse data sets are a great way to create robust and rich analysis.
The data from AWID’s 2011 Global Survey formed the backbone of our analysis in Watering the Leaves, Starving the Roots report. However, we also collected data from interviews and interactions with several actors in the field, ranging from donors to activists and women’s rights organizations.
Final products
In addition to allowing you to set your schedule, creating an initial plan of what products you will develop will also allow you to work out what resources you need.
For example, will you only produce a long research report or will you also create infographics, brochures and presentations? Depending on your products, you may need to hire a design firm, plan events and so on.
These products will also be the tools you use to achieve your goals, so it is important to keep those goals in mind. For example, is your WITM research exclusively intended as an advocacy tool to influence funders? In that case, your products should allow you to engage with funders at a deep level.
Some sample products:
- Long report for dissemination with key funders and organizations.
Historically, AWID WITM research has centered on a long report, from which AWID distilled other smaller products - see rest of list. - Infographic for viral distribution online
- Short animation demonstrating key findings
- Short brochure(s) distilling your findings and messages
- Articles and blog posts on key findings to draw interest to your larger report
- Seminars or webinars presenting key findings.
Conclusion: Framing your research will give you the big picture
Framing your research to cover goals, key questions, types of data, and final products will allow you to create a well-planned schedule, prepare your resources in advance, and plan a realistic budget.
This will make interactions with external partners easier and allow you to be nimble when unexpected setbacks occur.
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Estimated time:
• 1 month
People needed:
• 1 or more Research person(s)
Resources available:
• AWID Research Framing: sample 1
• AWID Research Framing: sample 2
Previous step
Next step
Ready to Go? Worksheet
Quand les résultats seront-ils disponibles?
L’analyse des réponses nous permettra de tirer des conclusions et de définir des tendances. Les résultats seront présentés à l’occasion du 15e Forum international de l’AWID à Bangkok, et en ligne, en décembre 2024. Inscrivez-vous ici pour participer au Forum!
Snippet FEA Bauen Hotel (EN)
Only a year after it was founded, the members of Nadia Echazú started to work in haute couture and organized a fashion show in the historic Bauen Hotel.
They showcased five models and some workers of the textile cooperative walked down the runway with their own designs.
This was revolutionary not only because they were designing alternatives to mainstream fashion, but also because they were creating accessible, inclusive clothes for all trans and travesti bodies.
Feminist economies should also be about feeling amazing and comfortable in the clothes we are wearing.
Florentina Gomez Miranda
Jacqueline Coulibaly Ki-Zerbo
Jacqueline was a pioneering Malian/Burkinabe feminist, nationalist and educator.
She taught English in Senegal, before being recruited in 1961 as an English teacher at the Lycée Philippe Zinda Kaboré in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Through her activism, she was involved in the popular uprising of January 3, 1966. Between 1961 and 1966, Jacqueline was also responsible for the trade union press, Voices of the Teachers. She was appointed as the head of the Normal Course for Young Girls (now known as Nelson Mandela High School) until 1974, and dedicated herself to girls’ education and advancing women’s rights.
In 1984 she was awarded the Paul G. Hoffmann Award for outstanding work in national and international development.
6. Conduct desk research
Desk research can be done throughout your research. It can assist you with framing, help you to choose survey questions and provide insights to your results.
In this section
- Giving context
- Building on existing knowledge
- Potential sources for desk research
1. Donors’ websites and annual reports
2. Online sources of information
Giving context
Conducting desk research throughout your research process can assist you with framing, help you to choose survey questions and provide contextual clarity or interesting insights to your survey results, such as comparing similarities and differences between your survey results and information produced by civil society and donors.
Perhaps you notice trends in your survey data and want to understand them.
For example, your survey data may reveal that organization budgets are shrinking, but it cannot tell you why this is happening. Reviewing publications can give you context on potential reasons behind such trends.
Building on existing knowledge
Desk research also ensures you are building your research on the existing knowledge regarding your topic, confirming the validity and relevance of your findings.
They may be complimentary or contradictory to existing knowledge, but they must speak to existing data on the topic.
To ensure comprehensive research of the entire funding landscape related to your topic, look at a diverse set of funding sectors.
You can consider:
- Women’s Funds
- Private and Public Foundations
- International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs)
- Bilateral and Multilateral Agencies
- Private Sector Actors
- Individual Philanthropists
- Crowdfunders
Include any other relevant sectors to this research.
For example, you may decide that it is also important to research local non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Potential sources for desk research (non-exhaustive)
1. Donors’ websites and annual reports
These are direct sources of information about what funders are actually doing and generally contain information on policies and budgets. Researching this before interviewing donors can result in more focused questions and a stronger interview.
2. Online sources of information
- Alliance Magazine
- Council on Foundations newsletter
- Devex blog & bulletins
- Foundation Center news
- Articles written by activists and organizations in your survey population
- AWID’s Donor list
- Philanthropy Journal
- Institute of Development Studies
Previous step
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Estimated time:
• 1-2 months
People needed:
• 1 or more research person(s)
Previous step
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7. Synthesize your research findings
Ready to Go? Worksheet
Snippet - WITM why - AR
لماذا عليّ تعبئة الاستطلاع؟
Snippet FEA The fight for a world full of workplaces (ES)
La lucha por un mundo lleno de lugares de trabajo libres de todas formas de discriminación, estigma y exclusión es digna. Un mundo en el que el trabajo sexual sea descriminalizado y reconocido como trabajo es parte integrante de esto.
Un mundo donde todxs lxs trabajadorxs tengan condiciones de trabajo seguras, salarios dignos y puedan disfrutar de los mismos derechos como el acceso a la salud, pensiones, permisos por enfermedad, vacaciones, seguridad laboral y más, sin importar su género, raza, etnia, edad o capacidad.
Los derechos laborales son cuestiones feministas, y los sindicatos feministas desempeñan un papel clave en la promoción de los derechos legales, laborales y económicos de todxs lxs trabajadorxs, especialmente lxs trabajadorxs migrantes, lxs trabajadorxs domésticxs, lxs trabajadorxs informales y lxs trabajadorxs sexuales. Estas son personas que recientemente se han visto afectadas de manera desproporcionada por la pandemia, su crisis de cuidados, los confinamientos, toques de queda y el aumento de la vigilancia y represión policial.
Aquí les presentamos las historias de activistas feministas y sindicalistas que luchan por mejores condiciones de trabajo y mejores mundos para todxs.
Magdalena Reyes Salazar
Lara Kruger
Lara fue una muy conocida y querida DJ de radio en la FM Motsweding, en Sudáfrica.
Fue una de las primeras conductoras abiertamente transgénero en una estación de radio comercial. Trabajó mucho para echar luz sobre los temas LGTBI.
El activismo de Lara comenzó a temprana edad, cuando defendía vivamente su derecho a vestirse y comportarse de una forma que le resultara cómoda y lo hacía frente a integrantes de su comunidad que todavía no entendían qué significaba ser transgénero.
¿Cómo se originó este proyecto?
Pensamos que la economía, el mercado, el sistema financiero y las premisas sobre las que se basan son todas áreas fundamentales para la lucha feminista.
Por eso, nuestra visión de una economía justa va más allá de promover los derechos y el empoderamiento de las mujeres en una economía de mercado, sino que busca evaluar el rol que juegan las opresiones de género en dar forma al modelo económico y ver como podemos transformarlo para garantizar la justicia de género y económica.
El proceso
No estamos comenzando de cero ni estamos solas en nuestro intento de presentar propuestas feministas para una economía justa. Muchas de nuestras propuestas ya han sido presentadas o existen en la práctica de las diversas comunidades que confrontan y desafían a los sistemas económicos dominantes basados en el mercado y el crecimiento.
También somos concientes de las limitaciones que algunas alternativas presentan para abordar las injusticias del actual sistema capitalista a escala global. No siempre las propuestas a nivel micro son la respuesta a los problemas macro, si bien representan espacios importantes de resistencia y construcción de movimientos.
Metas
Sin embargo, las alternativas feministas para una economía justa son fundamentales para socavar el sistema y para aprender a generar cambios transformadores y sistémicos. No podemos presumir de ofrecer un relato exhaustivo ni completo acerca de cómo crear un modelo económico feminista justo, o varios modelos de esa clase. Lo que sí podemos hacer es recoger elementos de diálogos con otros movimientos (sindicales, ambientales, rurales y de campesinxs) para formular propuestas que nos permitan acercanos a esa visión.
¿Qué queremos cambiar?
El modelo neoliberal que dirige la economía global ha demostrado una y otra vez su incapacidad para hacer frente a las causas estructurales de la pobreza, las desigualdades y la exclusión. Lo que en realidad ha hecho el neoliberalismo ha sido contribuir a crear y exacerbar esas injusticias.
En estas últimas tres décadas, las políticas dominantes para el desarrollo se han caracterizado por la globalización, liberalización, privatizaciones, financialización y ayudas condicionadas, y han destrozado los medios de vida de la población. El recorrido de estas políticas también ha estado marcado por la profundización de desigualdades, las injusticias con marca de género y la destrucción ambiental que el mundo ya no puede continuar soportando.
Hay quienes no dudan en sostener que el crecimiento económico, que debe ser facilitado dando plena libertad a las grandes corporaciones y empresas, puede generar y sostener una una marea alta que (con el tiempo) levante todos los barcos.
Sin embargo, la noción de desarrollo que ha prevalecido durante las últimas décadas, construida sobre la premisa de un crecimiento económico ilimitado, está atravesando una crisis ideológica.
El mito del crecimiento económico como panacea para todos nuestros problemas está perdiendo cada vez más prestigio.
Ver también
Snippet - WITM To Strengthen - AR

لتقوية صوتنا وقوتنا الجماعية لنصل لتمويل أكبر وأفضل للتنظيمات النسائية والنسوية وحركات الميم - عين وحلفائها/يفاتها عالمياً
Snippet FEA Georgia's minimum wage (FR)
Le salaire minimum en Géorgie est l’un des plus bas dans le monde. Cette réalité touche surtout les femmes.
Non seulement le pays a un écart de rémunération important entre les genres, mais les femmes travaillent également des heures plus longues et moins réglementées avant de rentrer chez elles pour s'occuper des tâches ménagères et de leur famille. Il n'y a pas de congé de maternité, pas d'augmentation de salaire pour les heures supplémentaires, pas d'assurance-chômage, et pas de congé de maladie ou d'autre protection sociale. Sous la pression d’organisations occidentales, les partis politiques oligarchiques géorgiens ont mis en œuvre des réformes qui détruisent l'État-providence, augmentent les mesures d'austérité et aggravent l'exploitation des travailleur·euses, le tout au profit des grandes entreprises qui applaudissent le pays pour sa «facilité à faire des affaires». Les médias, cooptés par des intérêts privés et corporatifs, sont partiaux sur ces questions ou les réduisent au silence. L'organisation syndicale reste l'une des rares options pour lutter pour les droits humains fondamentaux et pour tenir l'État et les entreprises responsables des violations et persécutions quotidiennes et généralisées contre les travailleur·euses, et en particulier les femmes.
Source: Minimum-Wage et entretien avec Sopo Japaridze dans Open Democracy
Informe Anual 2011

Con el propósito de cumplir su misión, AWID trabaja a través de programas multianuales interconectados.
Cada programa comprende diversas estrategias que abarcan desde la generación y difusión de conocimientos, investigación aplicada, incidencia política y formación de alianzas, hasta convocatorias a diálogos estratégicos.
En nuestro Informe Anual 2011 encontrarán una síntesis de los principales logros alcanzados en cada una de los programas de AWID durante el año.
Sandra Viviana Cuellar Gallego
María Cecilia Alfaro Quesada
Maria a consacré la majeure partie de sa vie à l’intégration d’une perspective féministe et de la parité hommes-femmes dans les activités institutionnelles et organisationnelles, ainsi qu’au renforcement des capacités.
Enfant, Maria s'intéressait beaucoup à l'art, à la communication, à la nature, à la littérature et à la justice, en particulier pour les femmes et les groupes marginalisés.
Elle a milité en faveur droits sexuels et reproductifs et était membre du Conseil national pour une éducation intégrale à la sexualité. Celleux qui l’aimaient se souviennent d’elle comme d’une « combattante passionnée et infatigable », résolument engagée en faveur des droits des femmes et des enfants